Cabin and motor noise in SE?

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I did a test drive in a new 2022 SE today, and I noticed a lot more apparent motor whine noise than in my own 2019 Tesla Model 3. At low speeds, this might have been due to the the external pedestrian warning sound (which my 3 does not have), but I think I still heard a whine at 30-40mph, when I would have thought that the external pedestrian warning would be disabled. Does the Mini play a simulated motor noise through the internal audio, as the Jaguar I-Pace and Porsche Taycan do by default, or is it more likely that I was actually hearing the motor itself?

Separate from this, I hoped the Mini would generally let in less external road noise than my Model 3, which isn't known for having an exceptionally quiet cabin. But I didn't notice much difference at 30-50mph - it seemed okay, but not great. Still, this isn't a big luxury car, so this is probably to be expected.

Anyway, any info on the motor noise - simulated or not? - would be appreciated. Thanks!
 
The pedestrian warning system does sound like a loud whine, but it should cut off at 20mph. I’ve occasionally noticed a whine when accelerating hard, but I wouldn’t call I intrusive. Normally it’s not really noticeable. AFAIK there is no simulated motor noise played in the cabin so you are probably just hearing the whine of the motor. The soundproofing on the Mini is designed around the ICE model so I would expect it to be fairly effective in this form.

In general I think the Mini cabin is pretty quiet. We also have an i3 and there’s a similar whine from that, but it is not as well insulated for sound as the Mini; possibly due to the CFRP construction. You can hear the suspension bumping around much more clearly and there’s more wind noise in the i3.
 
I find mine pretty quiet compared with my GTI, which is quieter than the Fiat 500 turbo I owned. There maybe some whine but it is not noticeable at speed. Tire and road noise is louder.
 
SpeedyRS said:
The pedestrian warning system does sound like a loud whine, but it should cut off at 20mph
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I find the pedestrian warning is loudest up to around 20mph, but then gets gradually softer until around 26mph until it's no longer there. Not sure if that's actually the case, but that's what it seems like to me. Aren't all EVs supposed to have a pedestrian warning? Did that become a law in the US rather recently? Of the few EVs I've heard going by at slow speeds, almost none have any sound at all. Just curious, but I do like the sound my SE makes.
 
Compared to a Model 3 the Mini SE has more audible motor noise. I have the pedestrian noisemaker disabled, so it is not that.

The Tesla is more refined in this regard, though the TM3 motor makes some high pitched beeps around 40-42 mph and 80-82 mph. This could be resonances from the motor itself.
Tesla uses a silicon carbide inverter in the rear (very quiet, switching frequencies well beyond human hearing), so it is likely inverter whine that we are hearing.

IMO wind noise is marginally better in the Mini, road noise is better in the TM3.
 
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